The SmartBox Blog

The end goal of all your marketing efforts is to put more new dental patients in your chairs. Everything else – impressions, views, clicks, likes, shares, opt-ins – is just a means to that end.
While an increasing number of prospects book their first appointment online, the vast majority still pick up the phone and call your practice. That first point of contact is the make-or-break moment for your marketing. Every new prospect that calls your office but isn’t appointed is a complete waste of your marketing investment.
Let’s Give The Front Office Its Due
Dentists hire front ...

You couldn’t operate your dental practice without having carefully designed processes and procedures in place. From dental insurance to billing to appointment-setting, your practice needs structure. The same holds true for the clinical side of your business.
But have you ever given the same degree of thought and planning to your marketing? Probably not. The vast majority of dentists have no formal training in the principles and best practices of marketing. They tend to do what they’ve learned from other dentists, or what they see their competitors doing.
In a way, that’s a shame, ...

In 2017, Colin Receveur released a groundbreaking work about dental marketing in an uncertain age.
The Four Horsemen of Dentistry: Survival Strategies for the Private Dental Practice Under Siege has proven to be enormously popular with dentists everywhere. The book identified four macroeconomic forces that pose a severe threat to unprepared dental practices: corporate dentistry, new dental school graduates, declining dental insurance reimbursements, and economic uncertainty.
Moreover, The Four Horsemen of Dentistry provided a proven solution for dentists to meet those challenges and ...

2018 is ushering in some significant changes to Facebook, and dentists should take note.
In January, Facebook let it be known that for page content to appear in individuals’ news feeds, it would require a high level of authentic engagement from his or her own personal networks.
In early February, the “thumbs down” or disapprove button was reported to be in a testing phase. It’s seen as another measure to decrease the amount of inappropriate or abusive content appearing in news feeds.
Finally, Facebook last month announced a new measure to bolster social interaction between ...

Have you ever tried to hold a freshly-caught fish in your hands? It’s not easy. They’re wriggly, slippery things, and more often than not they escape from your grasp, at least temporarily.
You might not know it, but your front office staff is almost certainly letting new patients slip through their grasp over the phone. Permanently. And every prospect who calls your practice but isn’t appointed is a waste of your marketing investment.
SmartBox monitors and analyzes calls to our doctors’ offices on an ongoing basis. We were shocked to discover just how many calls during business ...

Building a successful dental practice is a long-term prospect. Marketing that practice is an essential element in the quest for new patients. But the marketing that works when the economy is good won’t necessarily work when things get tough.
We saw the last example of that during the Great Recession of 2008-2010. Dentists’ incomes took a hit. Retirement plans were put on hold. Sales of dental practices slumped. Collections were down overall. And all of these downturns occurred despite the fact that dentists kept on advertising.
The problem was that people who had been laid off due ...

You’ve probably heard about “The Golden Age of Dentistry.” It’s a mythical period around the 1970’s to 1980’s when dentist success stories abounded. Dentists were purchasing second homes, jet-setting around the globe on vacations, and eased into an extremely comfortable retirement when they were ready, even if that significantly before retirement age.
It’s a mythical period because it only shows what was possible for some dentists. It ignores the struggles of many doctors during that same time frame to fully realize financial success.
What we’re living through now ...

Being a dentist routinely ranks as one of the two best professions in the country, but you’d never know it by talking with a random cross-section of practice owners.
You’ll hear complaints about neck and back pain; patients who argue about case solutions; patients who question every procedure and charge; and patients who only want what insurance will cover.
You’ll also hear about not having enough time for family and friends; juggling too many non-clinical responsibilities; and fearing that they’re reaching the point where they’ll dread coming into the practice.
How ...

There’s rarely been a better time for dentists to embrace practice growth. The economy continues to surge, a recent market correction notwithstanding. With unemployment near record lows, and the recent tax cut promising to put more money in families’ pockets, smart dentists will position their practices to benefit.
There’s just one problem – how do you do that?
You certainly didn’t study practice marketing in dental school. You probably didn’t intend to add to your professional workload by managing your marketing yourself. Frankly, it’s a huge waste of dentists’ time and ...

As the SmartBox $25,000 Challenge moves into its second month, the competition is beginning to heat up.
We’ve Challenged our dentists’ practices to convert as many new patient calls to appointments as possible. SmartBox is directly incentivizing those doctors’ staffs by offering quarterly prizes – thousands of dollars in gift cards – and three fabulous annual prizes.
Those phone answerers are stepping up in response. We saw a marked uptick in new patient appointments in January compared to the previous two months. As January is often a slow month for dental practices, the ...

READY TO THRIVE?

If you’re ready to begin getting the only result that matters from your marketing - more and better patients in your chairs - get started today and schedule your Practice Discovery Session™. They’re free to serious dentists who want to see a Patient Attraction System™ that can double or even triple their practice.

SmartBox™, Colin Receveur™, Patient Attraction System® , Attract The Patients You Want®, Helping Dentists Thrive®, More and Better Patients® , More Patients, More Profits, More Freedom® , Patient Attraction Turbo Booster®, Practice Discovery Session™, RAVE™, State of Web Marketing®, The Coming Dental Apocalypse™, The Four Horsemen of Dentistry™, We Help Dentists Thrive®, and Zetetics® are all trademarks/servicemarks or registered trademarks/servicemarks of SmartBox, LLC, with all rights reserved. Any other business names or branding such as “Google”, “Bing”, “BirdEye”, “Inc 5000”, etc. are trademarks and/or servicemarks of their respective owners. No infringement is intended.